This study shows recent developments in the Smoothed Profile Method (SPM) as a diffuse-interface approach. SPM is well suited towards simulating the dynamics of dense particulate flows at the meso-scale, i.e. when particles are resolved. Several challenges are addressed: extension of the diffuse interface method for a wide range of Reynolds numbers, tackling the stability of computations in an FSI setting with added mass effects, and developing a parallel implementation with adaptive mesh refinement to handle large ensembles of particles. This research also offers a new particle collision model for arbitrary shape particles. The model is unique in the sense that it is simple, does not change the computational cost and does not have case sensitive parameters.

Bio:

Fazlolah Mohaghegh (Ehsan) is a PhD Candidate at the University of Iowa working under supervision of Professor Udaykumar. He received his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology (SUT) and Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). Before starting his PhD, Mohaghegh was a member of IUST CFD lab and worked on the CFD simulation of multiphase flows for different applications such as spray dryers, spray combustion systems and powder cladding devices. In his PhD, he worked on the development and implementation of diffuse interface immersed boundary methods to model fluid-structure interaction of rigid objects. Most of Mohaghegh’s research focused on the modeling of blood as a particle laden flow in the hinge gap region of a mechanical heart valve.